This box set brings together for the first time all Haydn’s Scottish and Welsh folksong settings – a grand total of 429 songs. Why, at the age of 67, did the most famous composer in the world undertake repeated commissions from publishers to produce such a remarkable number of songs? One reason is the rather lucrative fee paid per song, the second reason is that Haydn had a genuine affection for Britain and the British that had started with his first visit to the country in 1791–2. He had made many friends and business acquaintances, not least the publishers Napier, Thomson and Whyte who were the driving forces behind these songs.
Described by Sir Roger Norrington as the wittiest of all the great composers, in these songs Haydn allows ample opportunity for his humour and wit to shine through. Remarkably, Haydn received only the melody of the songs by the publishers, not the words – something that HC Robbins Landon described ‘an arrangement that would seem insane to any modern folk song arranger schooled in the methods of Bartók and Kodály’. Nonetheless Haydn rose to the challenge admirably, and apparently enjoyed the task. Each song is a gem, and
many of them containing first-class melodies which Haydn no doubt found attractive and inspirational.
Further information
• First complete recording of all 429 songs, and a major contribution to Haydn’s bicentenary year 2009
• All the releases in this set were well reviewed
• ‘Lorna Anderson and Jamie MacDougall are the ideal singers, both with a healthy, natural
resonance, intelligent relish for the texts and unfailingly reliable intonation.’ Gramophone
• ‘In the vigorous songs he (MacDougall) is excellent…Equally consistent is the standard of
performance. The singers ideally suited to their tasks, the instrumentalists unfailingly lively and
stylish in their playing.’ Gramophone
• CD-ROM containing a comprehensive and scholarly essay, plus sung texts to all songs.
• Booklet with index to the 18 CDs and all 429 songs
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